The following few days after their little tour of the woods were more or less eventless. Hinata wondered a little about the red-haired woman she had seen among the crowd, but she soon left her head as the more demanding task of teaching Naruto common sense occupied more and more of her time.
Hinata had tried to teach him some more words, but Naruto seemed to be stuck on the one word she had learned him during their little adventure, and a detour from his recently acquired ability to a one-word conversation seemed an impossible goal. Not to mention he had no idea of when to utter it and not. Sakura had had the laugh of her life one morning when Hinata had brought him down for breakfast. He hadn't waited longer than until he saw that Hinata was on her way to say 'good morning' to Sakura to put his finger on her lips and say 'lips' in such a raspy morning voice that Hinata actually had to do a double take to be sure it really was him. Sakura had enjoyed it immensely, of course, and told them with an almost predatory gleam that she knew where this was going.
Hinata sighed as she thought about it. Sakura had her own way of going about things, that was for sure. She glanced over at Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, playing with the yarn she was using to knit herself a scarf. She had had some success with teaching him some new words, despite his lack of interest. It seemed as if he was much more interested in everything that went on around him, much more so than learning to communicate. Hinata could understand it, though. At lot was new to him.
"Naruto?" she called out to him, and he looked at her with an almost childish gleam in his eyes. She put away her knitting work and scooted closer to him. "We're gonna go outside, okay? And I'll teach you some new words from the outdoors."
He cocked his head, and looked at her with a stare that told her he didn't understand at all, so she grabbed his hand and dragged him up gently. He followed willingly, a smile spreading slowly as he realized they were going out.
The weather was getting chillier, and she made sure she forced him into a warm jacket and mittens before they entered the garden. He seemed displeased, because he was constantly tugging at the garment and trying to wring his hands out of the mittens, frowning when Hinata tugged them back on.
"You have to keep them on, you'll get sick if you don't."
He pouted at her, and he seemed so childlike that she couldn't help but laugh a little. Physically he seemed to be her age, maybe a year or so younger, but he was still a child in so many ways. She touched the mitten she was wearing, and said the word slowly and clearly. He reacted immediately; he obviously understood what she wanted, and he uttered the word to the best of his ability, but it sounded more like 'vittons' than 'mittens'.
They wandered the garden most of the afternoon, and though Naruto seemed to lose interest fairly quickly, she had at least managed to teach him a few new words. "And thankfully", she thought, "he hasn't mentioned my lips at all. I'd like them to be left alone for a change."
Naruto had been with them for a week now, and it had already started to feel natural. The thought startled her a little, that she could so easily accept responsibility for a human being. Most likely it was her maternal instincts kicking in, Sakura had said when Hinata had warily aired her thoughts to her. "He's like a child who needs to be raised, therefore the overly large loving side of your heart takes completely over. If there is anything to be taken over at all."
Hinata sat down on a bench and watched Naruto play with a stick he had found. Sakura was right; he was a kid in so many ways, but still… He had the body of a nearly full grown man, and though his features were smooth, they held none of the roundness typical for a child. Not to mention the look in his eyes when he fought with Neji; predatory and almost dangerous. But for some or another reason, it didn't bother her, that animalistic side of him. It seemed so far away, so distant, when she watched him jump merrily after a frog he decided to pester.
"Naruto," she called to him, and he immediately left the frog alone and turned his attention to her. "I'm going back now, are you coming with me?"
Much use in even asking, she thought amiably, when he jumped to attention the moment she got up from the bench. At his feet, the frog jumped away as quickly as it could, probably glad to be free of his would-have-been uncertain fate. Naruto leaped gleefully towards her.
"Like a child," she thought.
"Lips."
Hinata groaned inwardly. Not again.
"Oh Naruto, I thought we were past this! Could you at least try to say the words I'm teaching you?"
Instead, he reached forward to touch her. She pushed him away with an annoyed huff she couldn't quite conceal.
Sakura laughed from her place on the kitchen bench. A partially chopped carrot and a knife lay beside her, silently at ease.
"He's not going to give up, so you might as well indulge him and give him a kiss," she teased and slid down from the counter. Hinata grazed her with a glare. "You should rid him of the habit, though; what would you do if he did that in front of your father and Neji?"
Hinata groaned, and Naruto looked worriedly at her. Truth to be told, she had forgotten that her father would return the following day. Her mind had been much too preoccupied with other matters entirely.
"Sakura, you have to help me. Never mind father, Neji would go ballistic if Naruto practiced his infatuation with my lips in front of him!"
"Then indulge him once. Give him a quick kiss, he'll probably be sated then."
Hinata fixed Sakura's smirking face with a glare.
"You might be my best friend, but you really are short on a couple of brain cells."
Sakura tsk'ed. "My, such words. But seriously, it might help. Frankly, it's the only thing I can think of that maybe could help."
Hinata stared at Naruto with dismay. Naruto tilted his head and stared back at her curiously in reply, obviously not getting the gist of things and exactly how much worry he was causing Hinata. She gave him a head-to-toe. Though it might not hurt to look at him, he was certainly no kissing material! Not to mention that she hadn't ever kissed anyone before, and she didn't want her first to go to someone who might not even know how to appreciate it properly.
"Forget it," she mumbled. She pointedly ignored Sakura's comment about her red cheeks and left her to her carrots.
Hinata had just finished her breakfast together with Sakura and Naruto when she heard the unmistakable sound of a carriage draw up outside the front door. A jolt of nervousness flew through her. Neji and her father were back, and Naruto had acquired certain habits she absolutely didn't want them to find out about, therein his love for the word 'lips'.
"What am I going to do if he starts doing something weird again?" she asked Sakura, who looked utterly uninterested.
"I don't know," she answered truthfully and with an unmistakable air of indifference.
Hinata sighed, and threw a half-glare Naruto's way. He looked back at her, a tiny question forming in his eyes. "Poor him," she though and felt her lips draw up into a little smile, "he doesn't understand that his nemesis has returned."
"Let's just get going, before your dear Neji gets his panties in a twist," Sakura said and rose from her chair. "If you don't show up within a minute of his arrival, he'll probably think that Naruto has run away with you." She gave a wicked smile. "Oh, my mistake. He already did that."
Hinata gifted Sakura with a not very ladylike gesture and stomped out of the kitchen, Naruto following right after like a protective shadow. Sakura snickered and started clearing away the dishes. Her best friend was just too cute sometimes.
The servants were in the process of unloading the luggage when Hinata came down. Neji and her father were on their way in through the grand doors, and she hurried down to them. Naruto followed closely, therefore she easily heard the small growl that slipped from him when he spotted Neji. She rolled her eyes and mentally crossed her fingers that he wouldn't go straight for Neji's throat again.
"Father, Neji, welcome home," she greeted them when she reached them. Her father regarded her levelly before he thanked her and turned to hand his coat to a servant. Neji just looked at Naruto coolly, a gaze Naruto without a doubt returned in equal measures. Hinata stifled an annoyed sigh when she felt his arms sneak around her, and tried not to look at Neji's frigid glare. Though it wasn't directed at her, it still made her uncomfortable.
"He's still clinging to you like that?" Neji said through loosely clenched teeth, obviously wanting nothing else than to push Naruto far, far away.
"Well," Hinata timidly, silently contemplating whether she should speak her next words or not, in fear of insulting her cousin. "He, uhm, he hasn't done it once while you were away. This was the first time since you left."
Neji snorted. "He doesn't like me because he thinks I'll hurt you?" He gave Naruto a once over, clear contempt in his eyes. "Well, isn't he a stupid one."
"Don't call him stupid," Hinata scolded. "He doesn't understand everything yet, but he will in due time."
"I'll wait in excitement, then."
Hinata narrowed her eyes and prepared for a little rebuke, but her father interrupted.
"Your bickering is hardly appropriate. Leave that for elderly ladies and sailors. We have far more pressing matters to attend." Making sure that the two of them were paying attention, he continued. "I met a man two days ago whom I think will be able to help us with this… little problem." He gave Naruto a once over. Hinata didn't very much care for that, and silently felt a little sorry for Naruto. "His name is Hatake Kakashi. He studies human behavior and psychology, and we came to talk about that boy. He seemed genuinely interested, therefore I asked him to come here. We can await his arrival at noon tomorrow."
Hinata raised an eyebrow. A total stranger in their house, close to Naruto whom she knew could be unstable around strangers? The thought didn't appeal much to her at all.
Seemed like things were going to get hectic in the near future.
A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I had to cut it off there, because I have to decide what's going to happen next. If you find any typos or mistakes, then please tell me, because I know I hate those annoying little mistakes when I read, therefore I don't want them in my stories.
And of course I had to bring Kakashi into the story. XD